AFM-7 · TRUST BLOWBACK

You sent the AI-polished email and lost the client today

3 min read 3 EF units · heavy

DESKRUNE

For when you come back.

01THE PATTERN

Here's what it looks like.

The pattern: you sent an AI-laundered email to a friend, partner, or coworker. Their reply was different than usual. Cooler. Shorter. They sensed something was off. Now you're rebuilding a relationship the email shortcut quietly damaged.

02WHY IT HURTS

The cost isn't the time.

AI doesn't write emails. It writes objects that look like emails. The people who know your voice can tell. The cost is ambient — they don't say 'this was AI-written,' they just trust you slightly less the next time. Untraceable, expensive.

03THE SIGNALS

Three ways you'll know you're in it.

Hook by hook. If you recognize even one of these in the last week, this is the failure mode that's costing you.

  1. 01The Uncanny Valley Draft: Text that is grammatically perfect but lacks your natural rhythm and voice.
  2. 02The Context Vacuum: A message that fails to reference specific, shared history or non-obvious relationship details.
  3. 03The Speed Illusion: Completing a high-stakes emotional communication in under two minutes without manual review.
04THE CIRCUIT BREAKER

The protocol that breaks the loop.

DESKRUNE PROTOCOL · AFM-7

The Deskrune Protocol for AFM-7 is the 'Human-in-the-Loop Pause.' Before sending any AI-assisted communication regarding sensitive topics, you must execute three steps. First, the 'Read Aloud Test': speak the draft; if your tongue trips over the phrasing or it sounds like a press release, rewrite the opening and closing sentences manually. Second, the 'Specific Injection': force yourself to add one sentence referencing a specific, non-public detail known only to you and the recipient. Third, the 'Time-Decay Wait': if the message carries emotional weight, draft it, close the window, wait fifteen minutes, and then review. If the warmth is gone, the send is blocked. This protocol ensures the tool serves the relationship, not the other way around.

06CONNECTED FAILURE MODES

Often shows up with these.

AFMs cluster. If this one hits, the next two probably also do.

07TAKE IT DEEPER

Kits that solve this directly.

See the full library →

99YOUR PATTERN

Log a moment when this hit you.

Most ADHD-AI loops feel random until you can see them next to each other. Log a moment in the form below — intensity, time, AI tool, brief context. After three or more entries, you'll see your own pattern in the recap. Stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.

SIGNAL TRACKER · TRUST BLOWBACK

When did Trust Blowback last happen?

You don't have to be precise. The point is to capture enough that the pattern becomes visible. Future-you reading this in three weeks will have something concrete to work with.

Often hits in the same week as AFM-7

Deskrune. For when you come back.